The Legend of Eve's Hollow
by Michael Alan
Summary: In the small town of Eve's Hollow, Pennsylvania, a local legend is said to roam the pumpkin patch outside of town every Halloween. When four teenagers claim that they actually saw and were attacked by the legend, the O.S.I.R. is called in to investigate.


PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal ****

PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal

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"The Legend of Eve's Hollow"

**Prologue**

Eve's Hollow, Pennsylvania – October 30, 1996

It was a quarter to midnight when the teenagers came out of the house and walked to the curb, where the one boy's car was. "What do you guys want to do?" the one, Nick Castle, said. "I don't want to go home already.

"Why don't we go out to Myers' Pumpkin Patch." the other guy, Grady, suggested.

Nick said, "Yeah. Let's do that."

"No way," the first girl, Annie Brackett said. "I'm not going out there."

The second girl, Linda, added, "Yeah. No way in hell I'm going there."

"Oh why? Are you scared?" Nick asked in a mock-tone. "Come on. It'll be fun. Just a few minutes."

The girls looked at each other, hesitating, then Annie said, "Alright. But we're only staying for ten minutes."

They climbed into Nick's car and drove off.

Moments later, they arrived at the pumpkin patch. Nick parked just inside the entrance, and they climbed out. They walked into the field. The ground was littered with leftover pumpkins, roots covering the ground and running in all directions. Bails of hay were scattered around, some torn open and spread across the ground, others still bound.

"You guys know what's out here, right?" Nick asked the girls.

"Shut up," Linda said.

Nick and Grady both looked at each other and smiled, then said, "Ooh. The Great Pumpkin."

"Shut up," the both girls replied simultaneously.

"Come on," Grady said. "You don't really believe in that myth, do you?" The girls didn't answer. "That's what I thought."

They made their way further into the field, stepping over rotting pumpkins and twisted roots. "It's supposed to appear every year on Halloween night and the night before," Nick said, asking like a late-night cable host of old monster movies. "It's supposed be the spawn of the devil, with hellfire in its eyes and the ability to control your mind to do it's bidding." The two boys laughed, but the girls didn't seemed amused.

A snap!

The stopped and turned. "Did you hear that?" Linda said.

Nick looked through the darkness. "Probably nothing. Just a cat or something." They continued on, the girls following reluctantly.

Another snap, followed by the sound of crunching hay. This time they all spun around, eyes sweeping the field. "I don't like this," Annie said nervously. "I think we should leave."

"Yeah, I think we should leave," Linda added, staring out into the field.

Another snap, behind them. They spun, the girl's screaming. Another, in the opposite direction, then another, off to the side. The girls were now completely scared, tugging at the arms of their boyfriends, pleading with them to leave. "Come on Nick," Annie was saying. "Come on. I want to leave. It's not funny anymore. Let's go."

"Annie, Annie." He grabbed her shoulders and tried to calm here. "Okay, we'll leave. Come on." He put his arm around her, and they walked at a brisk pace back toward the entrance.

They were almost there when they heard what sounded like a loud moan, almost a bellow. They all froze in their path and turned slowly. "Oh my God," Nick said, his voice barely audible. The girls started to cry. They stood for a long time, as if stuck there, in a trance. And all they could do was stand there and scream at the top of their lungs as the thing came hurtling towards them.

**Act 1**

October 31 – Day 1, 8:55 Hours

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Case file 248-504; Case Manager Connor Doyle reporting. Initial log entry. We've been summoned to Eve's Hollow, a small town in Pennsylvania, to investigate a local legend that appears to be quite real. It reportedly attacked a group of teenagers the night before. The legend is supposedly confined to a pumpkin patch near the edge of town. Our objective is to monitor the site into the evening. Local superstition says that the events occur every year on Halloween night and the night before.

The convoy of two Suburbans and three large semis came to a stop in the field across from the pumpkin patch. Connor Doyle climbed out of the lead truck as the town mayor, Jonathan Carpenter, walked over. "Good morning," he said cheerfully.

"Connor Doyle," the Case Manager said, exchanging handshakes.

Jonathan took a look at all the vehicles. "Don't like to travel light, hu?"

Connor smiled and said, "We'd like to set up our mobile lab in this field so that we can keep a close proximity to the pumpkin patch."

"By all means. Go ahead."

"We'd also like to interview the teens who were attacked last night and get their story on tape."

"Well, that can be arranged. Three of them shouldn't be a problem, but the third one, Linda, she's still pretty in shock. Whatever those kids saw over there sure did have an effect on her. She hasn't spoken since . . . since they were hear last night, I think."

Connor turned and looked across the street at the pumpkin patch. At almost nine o'clock in the morning, a light mist was clinging down to the ground, giving the area an eerie feeling to it.

Within an hour, the interviews were beginning. Nick sat in the living room of his home, camcorder on a tripod set up to record his story. Lindsay Donnor sat beside the camera. "What can you tell us about what happened last night?"

"We had been at a Halloween party for most of the day," he said. "Grady, Annie, Linda, and me. We left a little before midnight. I said I didn't feel like going home already, and Grady suggested we drive out to the Myers' Pumpkin Patch. Annie and Linda didn't want to go, but they eventually gave in and we went."

"What happened when you got there?"

"We parked and started walking through the field. Grady and I were kind of teasing the girls a little about how being scared, you know? So we were just walking around, and we heard a nose. We didn't see anything, so I figured it was just a cat or a dog or something. But then were started hearing more noises, and the girls started begging us to leave. So we started back to the car and that's when we heard . . . this loud moan, almost like a bellow. Like some kind of animal was yelling out. We turned around and all we could do was just stand there frozen. We were so scared we couldn't even move."

"Then what?"

"It just . . . _charged_. It came right at us, like it had been hunting us and coming in for the kill."

"What did it look like?"

"To be honest, I can't remember. I must have fainted before it got close enough for me to see it really good. It's pretty dark out there at night. It must have terrified Linda pretty bad, though. She hasn't said a word since she was asking to leave."

He looked away from the camera, out the window. Lindsay gestured for the man to stop recording.

Peter Axon stood in the pumpkin patch, running is environmental tests. Several other suited agents were scattered around the field, looking for evidence and running other tests. Connor walked up behind him. "Turn up anything yet?"

Peter shook his head. "First tests came back negative. Still got a few more we're running right now. Have you interviewed the kids yet?"

"Lindsay just finished with the first, and is on her way to see one of the girls. Keep me posted."

"Right." Connor was just leaving when Peter said, "Connor, Connor."

He came back. "What is it?"

"Oh. Nothing." He sighed. "I thought I had something for a second.

"Keep me updated."

Annie was lying in the hospital bed. Her eyes were fixed in a dead stare. Her boyfriend, Grady, sat in the chair beside her bed. Linda has just gotten there. "How's she doing?"

"Doctor's said she's just in shock. She hasn't been responding to anything, verbal or physical."

Linda leaned over. "Annie? Can you hear me?" No reaction. Linda stood. "Oh my God."

"I don't know how much longer I can look at her like this," Grady said.

The door opened, and Anton Hendricks stepped in. "Linda?"

"Yeah."

He came into the room. "I'm Dr. Anton Hendricks. I'm here with a team of investigators to find out if your town's local legend is true or not."

"Oh, it's true alright, doc," Grady said. "Look what it did to Annie."

Anton walked over and waved his hand in front of her face, snapped his fingers beside her ears. "No reaction," he said.

"She's been that way since it happened last night. How long does a person stay in shock?"

"It varies, depending on how traumatic the experience was. It cane last for seconds, minutes, hours. I've seen some cases where a person remains in shock for several days."

That didn't seem to sit too well with Grady, and he looked back at his girlfriend.

Nick was leaving the house when Lindsay caught him at the sidewalk. "Nick, I've got one more question I forgot to ask."

"Sure." He zipped up his jacket against the cool breeze.

"Where any of you drinking last night?"

Nick hesitated, which gave her the answer right away. "Just a little bit," he said. "We had some at the party before we left."

"How much?"

"I don't know how much the other's had, but I only had a few sips. That's all I can stand of the stuff. You know, I'm glad you stopped me because I forgot to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"A bunch of us are having a Halloween party tonight here at the house, around six o'clock. Why don't you come on by?"

"Thanks, but I'll probably be working."

"Oh, come on. You'll have fun."

"Aren't I a little _too old_ to be at a party full of teenagers?"

Nick just looked at her with a smirk. "Better than most of the girls around here," he said, and walked over.

Lindsay stood there on the sidewalk, surprised by his words. She had to smile.

****

Day 1, 11:37 Hours

Peter came into the Round Table room as the discussion began. "Okay," Connor said. "What do we have so far?"

"Preliminary environmentals didn't turn up anything, but I've got a few more that I'm still. We haven't found any traces of PK residue to suggest ghostly activity, but I can tell you that the field's clean of chemicals or toxins."

Connor turned in his chair. "Anton?"

"I think something frightening happened out there. Annie's state of shock is so great that I highly doubt it was a hoax. I don't see how anyone could pretend to be in such a state of shock without letting on it was all a prank."

"Any response to movement, sound?"

Anton shook his head. "Nothing. I questioned the other two kids, Grady and Linda. I checked with Lindsay to see what she got from Nick, and all three of their stories match perfectly. They went to the field after a Halloween party, heard some noises, started to leave, and that's when it happened."

"What exactly did happen?" Connor asked.

"They said they turned and saw something in the distance. They were so frightened that they couldn't move. They were frozen in place, and they said the thing then charged right at them. Grady said Nick passed out, and then Linda, just seconds before he did. The last image he had was of Annie standing there screaming."

"Did Annie pass out, too?" Peter asked.

"We don't know. We can't get anything out of her, and the other three passed out before she did, or didn't."

"So whatever it did to traumatize her so bad," Connor said, "it must have happened after the others passed out."

"Well, where was Annie when the others woke up?" Peter asked. "Did they find her passed out, still standing there, what?"

"The three of them didn't awake until several hours later, just before seven o'clock or so. They were found by a couple passing by in a car."

"Have we located them yet?" Connor asked.

"I already spoke with them. They said Annie came staggering out into the middle of the road right in front of them. She just stood there, almost as if in a trance."

The door opened, and Lindsay came into the room. "Finding anything?" Connor asked.

"Nothing new," she said, sitting, "but I did receive an invitation to a typical teenager Halloween party."

Connor smiled, then appeared to have a thought. "That might lead us onto something," he said.

"Like what?" Peter asked.

Connor turned to Lindsay. "If this was a hoax, some one at the party might know about it."

"Are you suggesting I go?"

"It could prove to be nothing," Connor admitted, "but it might also prove to be the right course to take."

Lindsay looked surprised and smiled. "Okay," she said. "Guess I'm going to visit my youth."

Connor looked to Peter. "Get a mini-audio/visual unit for Lindsay."

****

Day 1 – 18:00 Hours

The annual Eve's Hollow Halloween Festival was underway. Every year, the residents gathered in the town square for food, games, and just general fun. The Halloween Parade kicked everything off, when anyone and everyone dressed up in costumes parading down the street toward the square. Once there, the winner of the previous year's Halloween Spirit would light the bonfire that signaled the event.

Music played loudly from several speakers, and local restaurants turned out to supply the food and drinks. It was an event that virtually everyone in town took part in, in one way or another. Children ran around and played, laughing loudly, while the parents kept their eyes on them while taking part in their own group conversations.

The very center of the square was the location of a large wooden gazebo, and it was there that mayor Jonathan Carpenter climbed up to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen," his voice boomed, "if I could have your attention for a moment, please. I'd just like to welcome you all to our sixtieth annual Halloween Festival, here in the wonderful town of Eve's Hollow."

The crowd exploded with applause.

"We're going to begin things tonight with the first contest of the event, the pumpkin carving contest. So without further ado, let the festivities begin!"

The music resumed, and the crowd began dispersing to various places around the square.

When Lindsay knocked on the door, it was Nick who answered. She heard music playing loudly in the background, and could see teenagers all over, dancing, laughing, joking, and just having a good time. "Ms. Donnor," he said with a smile. "Glad to see you decided to stop by."

"I kind of needed a break from work," she lied.

"Come on in." He closed the door behind her. "There's plenty to eat and drink. Just help yourself."

Nick had no idea of the camera that was watching him, hidden as the top button on Lindsay's blouse. The microphone/speaker was hidden in her right ear, a tiny device that was perfectly concealed from view by her long hair.

"You're doing good, Lindsay," Connor's voice crackled in her ear. "Just keep your ears open."

Lindsay made her way into the crowd, dodging couples as they danced their way through the room in a fashion that could be called anything but dancing. She didn't really know what to do, so she figured she'd just head for the living room, find some place to sit, and see what happened.

As she turned, she saw a boy standing in front of her, probably no older than 23. He was holding a cup in each hand filled with soda. "Here you go," he said, handing her one.

She took it. "Thanks."

"You know, uh," the kid said, "you want to get out of here and go somewhere together?"

Lindsay almost laughed. "Sorry, but I think I'm a little too old for you." She started for the living room.

"I don't care how old you are," he said. "Look at you!"

She just said, "Maybe some other time."

Back in the mobile lab, Connor and Anton stood before a bank of video monitors, watching the reception of Lindsay's mini-camera on one of the screens. They both smiled as they heard Lindsay fighting off the affection of a few boys. "Maybe I should've went undercover," Anton suggested, to which Connor laughed. "They would have found me too boring."

That's when Peter came inside. "Anton. The hospital just called. Annie's starting to come around."

"Go," Connor said, and Anton left.

Peter walked up next to Connor. "So how's the game of _Mission: Impossible_ going?" he asked, looking at the monitor.

"So far so good. Nothing yet, but Lindsay's had to fight off a couple love-struck kids."

Peter laughed. "Maybe we should've sent Anton in," he suggested jokingly.

"Any development with your environmentals?"

"We finished the last of the tests. The computers are crunching the numbers, but we did pick up some traces of psychokinetic residue."

"How strong?"

"Nowhere near as high as what we found at that house outside Salem last month, but enough to register on the sensors."

"It's almost dark," Connor said. "Start setting up the night-vision and infra-red cameras around the field."

"Got it."

****

Day 1 – 18:24 Hours

Lindsay had finally found a place to sit in the living, in a chair next to the fireplace, where the flames popped and cracked loudly. She sat there sipping her drink, looking at all the teenagers. She wasn't too convinced that what happened had been a hoax, but she also wasn't seeing enough evidence to prove it was real, either.

As she sat there, she noticed a boy no older than 20 was starring at her. She had seen him looking at her off and on since she first sat down, but had ignored him. But now he was staring more often, and for a longer time. After a few moments he got up and made his way toward her.

"Here we go again," she said quietly, not moving her lips.

"Just play it nice," Connor's voice teased in her ear.

"Hi," the boy said, sitting down next to her. "My name's Mike."

"Lindsay."

"I don't think I've ever seen you at the high school," he said, and they both laughed. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing at a party full of teenagers?"

She smiled. "I never pass up an invitation to a party."

"Who invited you?"

"Nick Castle," she said.

"Ah. Figures. Yeah, he may have a girlfriend, but he's kind of got a thing for older women."

"_Older_ women?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, women who are . . . I mean, uh . . . you know what I mean."

She smiled, letting him no she had been joking. "So what do you know about the local legend?"

"What, the pumpkin patch thing?" he asked, sounding like he didn't believe it. "Ah, that's just a story. Not everyone around here buys into the local superstition."

"Then what do you think it was that traumatized Annie so bad it put her into shock?"

Mike shrugged. "I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised it Nick had something to do with it, though."

"Why do you say?"

"Nick's a real joker. You know, always clowning around, playing pranks. He's the little troublemaker in the class that always shoots spitwads at the back of your head when the teacher's not looking. And plus, he likes the elaborate pranks. The ones that take weeks to set up and only last a few seconds or a couple minutes. A couple years ago he spent three weeks preparing this one prank that was over in about eight seconds. So don't be surprised if you find a connection between the pumpkin patch and Nick Castle. Excuse me."

He got up and left. "Connor, did you hear all that?"

"Loud and clear," his voice responded. "Peter found some psychokinetic residue in the field, but we still need to rule out a hoax. She what else you can dig up."

"Right." Setting the cup aside, she stood and mingled in with the crowd.

****

Act 2

Day 1, 18:57 Hours

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Case log update. Small traces of psychokinetic residue found in the field have suggested the presence of some sort of spirit, but we're still in the process of eliminating the possibility a hoax. One of the victims of the previous night's encounter with the supposed legend is in the process of being questioned by our Chief of Medicine, Dr. Anton Hendricks. Nighttime surveillance of the field that is the location of the legend is currently being set up.

After being discharged from the hospital, Annie was brought back to the mobile lab. Her memory of the events were extremely fuzzy, and so Anton decided that regressing her was their best chance to find out what had happened. Annie was reclined in the chair, and Anton sat beside her. Outside the sliding glass door, Connor stood watching, along with Grady and Linda.

"Annie?" Anton asked quietly. "Can you hear me?"

"Mm-hm."

"Annie, I want you to back to last night, in the pumpkin patch with your friends. Are you there?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"What do you see?"

Her eyes moved under her eyelids. "It's dark. Cold. We're walking into the field. Nick is teasing Linda and me about being scared." She gasped.

"What is it?"

"We heard a noise."

"What kind of noise?"

"Like a snapping noise. Like a twig or something snapping. There it is again. And again. And again."

Outside the room, Connor heard a beep and looked at a monitor. The young girl's heartbeat was beginning to quicken.

"What's happening now?" Anton asked her.

"We're heading back to the car." Again, she gasped. "There's another noise. We're turning around." She began to shake in her chair, and her heartbeat climbed more steadily. "Oh my God. There it is."

"What? What is it?"

"It's out in front of us. It's just standing there. Or floating. I don't know which. It's looking right at us. Oh my God. Here it comes! It's coming right at us!"

"What is coming toward your?"

"The others just passed out! Oh God, oh God! It's coming right at me! Help! Help me, somebody! Help! _Help!_"

Annie screamed at the top of her lungs and began frantically trying to escape the confines of the chair, clawing at the armrests. "Annie! Annie!" Anton yelled. Grady and Linda looked on in horror as their friend screamed.

She was still screaming. "_Help! Help me!_"

Anton grabbed her shoulders. "Annie! Listen to me! Hear my voice! Annie!"

With a violent shake, her eyes opened and she came out of her regressive state. She bolted upright in the chair, panting, sweat beading her forehead. She looked around the room as if to see where she was. "Annie. It's okay," Anton said. She looked at him. "Nothing is going to hurt you. You're safe here."

Still fighting to catch her breath, she closed her eyes and dropped back into the chair, breathing quickly. Anton looked out at Connor.

****

Day 1, 19:45 Hours

Connor found Peter across the street in the field, setting up a nighttime surveillance unit. "How's it coming?"

Peter looked back to see who it was. "Almost done. Got a couple more after this, then I just need to synchronize them all with the screens in the mobile lab. How did the regression go?"

Connor shook his head. "As good as we could have hoped. Whatever happened out here last night had a tremendous affect on the girl. She was terrified."

"Well, hopefully, we'll find out what it was tonight."

"Here. Thought you could use this." Connor handed him a thermal cup filled with hot chocolate.

"Thanks, Connor. It's freezing out here."

As Peter turned back to the camera unit, Connor headed back across the road. As he neared the large white trailers that made up the mobile lab, Anton emerged from the door. "Connor. Here's Annie's description of what they saw." He handed him a sheet of paper, on which had been drawn a sketch of the thing.

Connor looked at it under one of the lab's exterior lights. The drawing was crude, but effective. The body was similar to how a tall man with a sheet over him would look. The hands were covered with gloves, the feet not visible. But the head was replaced by a large, fierce-looking jack-o-lantern, with sharp teeth and narrow eyes. Specks of fire were drawn as if bursting out from the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Connor looked at Anton.

"Ms. Donnor," Nick said as he came around the corner. "Enjoying the party?"

Lindsay turned. "It's been interesting. I don't think I've ever had to defend myself from so many teenage boys before," she said with a laugh.

"Well, you certainly deserve the attention I'm sure you've been getting. You're a very attractive woman."

Lindsay felt like she was going to blush. "Thank you," she managed to say.

He smiled and walked away. Lindsay reached up and adjusted the audio piece in her ear. "Jeez. It's like being back in high school all over again," she mumbled.

****

Day 1, 20:35 Hours

Peter came back into the lab and unzipped his jacket, setting his empty cup on a counter. He turned on the video monitors and let them warm up while he went to work on their corresponding control panels. Connor walked in as the cameras came on one by one. "Everything set up?"

Peter made adjustments to the various monitors. "Just about. A few more units to put on-line and we'll be all set."

"What did you environmentals turn up?"

"Oh, yeah." Peter turned to another station and grabbed a sheet of paper, handed it to Connor. "We found more traces of psychokinetic residue in various places. It seems to be concentrated the most around a small area near the back of the field, but there were plenty of traces elsewhere to suggest whatever it is moves around."

"I'm starting to think that maybe this isn't a hoax. I mean, how could it be a prank and have the site register this my PK energy?"

"Unless it was a prank that happened to be held at a location that's haunted," Peter suggested.

"But usually you have one or the other. Plenty of PK residue and no hoax, or a hoax and no signs whatsoever of ghostly activity."

"Well, if the legend is true, then the cameras will pick up this supposed ghost later tonight. How's Lindsay doing?"

Connor had completely forgotten about her. He walked back over to the station she was transmitting to. "Lindsay," he said into his microphone. "How you doing?"

"Well," her voice said, "I haven't uncovered anything to suggest a hoax. But I did find out that Nick Castle is a bit of a prankster, and that he likes the elaborate type ones. How about you?"

"Peter's environmentals turned up some heavy concentrations psychokinetic residue. I'm beginning to think we might actually be dealing with a real paranormal experience."

"Do you want me to come back?"

Connor thought for a moment. "Yeah. Come on back."

"Okay. On my way."

Connor glanced at his watch. "It's just after 8:30," he told Peter. "The mayor told me that's about what time Samuel Loomis will be home."

"Samuel Loomis?"

"He's the town historian. Maybe he'll be able to shed some more light on this legend." He grabbed the jacket from his locker and headed out.

A few minutes later, Connor stepped up onto the porch and knocked on the door. After several moments, the door opened a few inches, secured by the night-chain. An older man looked out. "Yeah? What do you want? I'm not buying anything if you're selling."

"Samuel Loomis? My name's Connor Doyle, I'm with the Office of Scientific Investigation and Research. Jonathan Carpenter told me you'd be useful in gaining some more knowledge about Der Groß Kürbis."

The man leaned against the door frame, but didn't remove the chain. "Ah. You investigatin' it, are ya? Well, lemme tell ya somethin', son. Stay away from the pumpkin patch. It's a place of evil. Pure evil. Not all town superstitions are fake. Some are more real than the world we live in. If you wanna save your life, leave now. And don't come back."

With that he shut the door.

****

Day 1, 21:08 Hours

Connor pulled up just as another car pulled away, driven by Grady and carrying Annie and Linda in the backseat. Anton was on the steps of the mobile lab. "How's she doing?" Connor asked, climbing the steps.

"Pretty good, surprisingly," Anton said, watching the car turn out onto the road and drive back into town. "She's holding together well. I suspect it'll be awhile before she can put the events behind her and move on, though. I told her friends to just be supportive of her for the time being."

"Lindsay get back?"

"She's inside." They walked into the mobile lab, thankful to feel the warmth of the heating units and leave the cold breeze outside.

Lindsay was sitting at the Round Table with a cup of hot chocolate, looking through the contents of a manila folder. "Man, that was like high school all over again," she said as they came in.

Connor laughed. "What are you looking at?"

"It's a history of claims made over the years by people who said they've seen . . . whatever is supposed to be out there. The first reported sighting was"--she dragged her finger down the page, scanning the text--"October 31, 1688."

"What exactly is this legend?" Anton asked.

"It's called Der Groß Kürbis," Connor said.

"Back in 1680, a German family was one of the first to settle in this area. The father was a Satan worshipper, and when the townspeople found out, they beheaded him and buried his body separate from his head. A few years later, people began claiming to have seen him around Halloween, the night he was killed. They believed that when he came back from Hell, he needed eyes to see his way, so he took a pumpkin from the field, carved a jack-o'-lantern into it, and sat it atop his shoulders."

Anton asked, "What's the connection between him and the field?"

"The field is where the body was buried. After 1688, there have been sightings reported each and every year since on October 30 and 31."

Connor sat back in his chair. "It'd be hard to except this as a long-time hoax."

"I agree," Anton said. "It's his spirit is here because in life his head was removed from his body, and he won't cross over to the other side until he has it back."

"Where was the head buried?"

Lindsay gestured with the papers. "According to my research, the head was destroyed and spread across the countryside."

Connor sighed. "So, if that's why it's here, that it wants its head back before passing onto the netherworld, it may never leave."

"How did your meeting with Mr. Loomis go?" Anton asked.

"Short," Connor replied. "All he said was that we should leave now and never come back if we wanted to stay alive."

****

Day 1, 23:28 Hours

It was almost midnight. Lindsay was sitting at the Round Table, aimlessly looking through all the papers recounting the history of the legend. Connor was at the back of the lab, talking quietly on the phone with Central Lab, updating them on their current state. Peter was sitting before the bank of camera monitors with headphones half on, his elbow on the armrest and resting his chin in his hand, flicking his eyes from screen to screen. He looked rather bored.

Connor turned the cell-phone and returned it to his inside coat pocket. "Anything?" he asked Peter.

"Nothing yet."

He walked past and entered the room with Lindsay, sitting at the head of the table. "Connor, listen to this," she said. "According to superstition, the spirit came have mind control over an individual."

Connor became alarmed. "Do you think it might have this power over Annie?"

Lindsay was looking up to respond when she instead shouted, "Behind you!"

Connor turned in his chair to see Annie standing in the doorway to the room, leveling a gun at Connor. Before he could react, Anton appeared behind her and pulled her arms up, right as she squeezed the trigger. The bullet fired upward and punched through the roof. The gunshot almost made Peter fall out of his chair.

They all looked on as Annie just stood there in a daze, looking as if she had no idea where she was.

Moments later at the back of the lab, Annie was reclined in the chair while Anton examined her. "I think it's apparent this mind control ability is in effect," Connor said as Lindsay walked up. "Did you find anything else?"

Lindsay turned to the appropriate paper in the folder. "Apparently, the mind control is used on individuals who have a great deal of fear, since it knows they're be the most weakest and therefore capable of having their mind taken over. If I had to guess, I would say that Annie exhibited more fear that Grady, Nick, or Linda, so the spirit placed the mind control over her."

"Is there any way to get rid of the effects?"

"I suppose if Annie was able to confront her fear and face it, the control would leave her. But we'd have to get her back into the field in order to do that. If not, there's no telling what the control it has on her will do to her."

Connor turned and looked back through the glass door at the young girl.

****

Day 1, 23:48 Hours

Peter was sitting back before the row of monitors when he thought he saw something. He sat up in his chair. "Wait a minute," he mumbled to himself, then said over his shoulder, "Connor."

Connor and Lindsay came up behind him. "What is it?"

"I think I got something. It was real brief, on monitor three. But it was definitely man-like."

"Let's go," Connor said.

Peter and Lindsay headed out of the lab while Connor went back to Anton's private room. Annie was still reclined in the chair, her eyes closed. Anton was just coming out. "We think we may have something in the field," he said. "Get Annie and bring her over there. The only possible way to get rid of her mind control is for her to face her fear."

"Right."

Connor hurried out of the lab and down the steps, where the other two were waiting. They ran across the road and through the gate of pumpkin patch. They stopped just inside and turned their flashlights on. "Okay," Connor said. "Peter, you go right. Lindsay, left. I'll go straight." They headed off.

"Please don't make me," Annie said as Anton walked her down the steps.

"You have to, Annie," he tried to explain. "The only way to get rid of this mind control power it's placed over you is for you to face your fear."

"But I can't. I know I can't."

"You have to, Annie. Be strong. You will beat this."

Connor walked slowly through the field, waving his flashlight on the ground in front of him. His feet crunched on dry twigs and leaves. A slight hint of rotting pumpkins filled the air. The stench wasn't bad, but it was enough to force him to breath through his mouth.

Lindsay made her way through the pumpkin patch, but could see nothing. Peter stepped over bails of hay that were falling apart, and almost slipped in mud. He threw his arms out to steady his balance, and hurried out of the mud. He stopped and looked down at his shoes. They were almost entirely covered with mud. "Ah great," he said.

And just as he was looking up he caught a glimpse of something. "Connor," he said, and ran.

Connor and Lindsay took off to follow him as Peter ran through the field, heading further in. As Anton and Annie walked across the road, they could see the three flashlight beams bouncing around like searchlights. "I can't do this," she repeated as they neared the entrance to the field.

"Yes, you can, Annie," he reassured her. "Yes, you can."

Connor and Lindsay caught up with Peter and followed on his heels. They were almost to the rear of the field. A thick growth of trees on the other side of the short wooden perimeter fence signaled the start of the woods. "It went into the woods," Peter said. They each climbed over the fence.

Anton and Annie stood just inside the field. "Walk forward, Annie."

She was almost crying. "I can't. I can't."

"You _have to_, Annie. If you don't this ghost will control you for the rest of your life. Walk forward, Annie. Walk forward."

She did so reluctantly, tears streaming down her face. "Don't cry, Annie. It shows the ghost that you're afraid. Stopping crying. Be strong. Be brave."

The three of them ran through the forest at full speed. "Over here!" Connor shouted, and lead the others to the left.

"No, there it is!" Lindsay shouted, pointing right with her flashlight beam, and they took off in that direction.

Annie had managed to stop crying, but the tears will stilling on her face. She whipped them off and kept walking. "That's good, Annie," Anton said from behind her. "That's good. Keep walking. Further in."

Connor came over a fallen tree and stopped in his tracks so fast that Lindsay bumped into him. He shined his light forward.

Annie continued walking. _Be brave_, she kept telling herself. _Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Do not be afraid_.

Lying on the ground near a large tree stump was a pile of ragged clothing, like a long, thick robe. As the others lit it with their flashlights, Connor slowly stepped forward and kneeled. Reaching out, he pulled the robe away. Samuel Loomis scrambled to his feet up against the tree.

"Oh great," Peter said, turning away.

Annie stopped walked as she felt something. She wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like something was leaving her. And suddenly, all that remained of her fear was gone. She smiled and turned around. Anton was back near the entrance, and she realized she had walked a good fifty or sixty feet from him. He smiled for her.

"I swear I saw it," Peter said. "I swear I saw a pumpkin."

Loomis sat quietly against the tree trunk, knowing he had been caught. Lindsay glanced at the ground around them. "Peter," she said. "Is this it?" She pointed her flashlight at another tree a few feet away.

Peter walked over and looked down. "Yeah, that's it." He rolled the carved pumpkin over with his foot. Cut into the bottom of the pumpkin was a hole big enough to put one's head through.

Connor shined his light back at Loomis and saw the slightest trace of pumpkin innards in his hair. He looked at Lindsay.

**Epilogue**

Early the next morning, a light fog rolled across the ground. The white semi trailers that had made up mobile lab pulled out of the field and began the drive back to Central Lab, along with one of the two green Suburbans. Peter and Anton loaded the last of their equipment into the back as Lindsay walked across the road.

Connor was standing inside the pumpkin patch, just past the entrance. He stood with hands in his pockets, looking out at the fog-covered field. "You're not satisfied that it was a hoax, are you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. There's something in this field. The PK energy confirms that. But it's all gone now. Peter couldn't find any traces."

"Well, there's always next year, right?"

He looked out at the field for a moment longer, then looked back at her and smiled. "Yeah. Come on."

The turned and headed back across the road.

__

Final log entry. Our investigation into events centered around the legend of Eve's Hollow remains unsolved. Though a person disguised as the legend was apprehended, there is evidence that suggests the legend itself is, in fact, real, but since the legend is said to only appear on October 30 and 31, there is no evidence to further investigate. Annie Brackett, one the victims of the claimed attack that brought us to Eve's Hollow, is making a good recovery from her state of shock and temporary mind control, which was believed to have been placed upon her by the spirit. Whether or not the legend is real will have to wait for another year to be determined. Connor Doyle out.

As the last Suburban pulled down the road, something in the pumpkin patch went unseen. Concealed from view behind a gathering of hay bails, a large pumpkin sat at an awkward angle. Suddenly, a grinning jack-o-lantern's face mysteriously burned into the surface as the pumpkin began to glow.


End file.
